Page 6 (1/2)
Heart racing, I caughtonanswered, saturating my system with unfae energies of the ring-shaped visa Tactics I hadn&039;t considered presented the of the seraphs, help I hadn&039;t knoas available My y, a line of attack with e Aroundthe tactic al Before it puddled at my feet, before the bells on my skirt had time to sound, I drew my blade and threw up a hand I shouted, "No!" The word roared, aht flared on, the rooe attributes blazed, skin glowing All movement stopped The echo ofwas onblade was poised at Elder Culpepper&039;s throat He grunted softly, his wide eyes ensnared by ed there I eased the blade tip back an inch My heart thudded in my ears Slowly, I lowered the hand that stretched to the ceiling, far overhead I had thought the stone ring was a dead political tool I hadn&039;t known it possessed any strength except that of governal protection Hadn&039;t known it was a diplomatic library and an amulet of power I could draw upon as I had with my voice just now Clearly I had a lot to learn, but I didn&039;t have ti And I was holding a sword to the throat of an elder Oops
Stunned, Shamus Waldroup&039;s eyes attracted leaned that whatever had been set in motion today, it hadn&039;t been planned by the council My eyes flicked back to Culpepper and my lip curled Not the entire council I sed, throat dry and burning in the after and cold, brushed the donut-shaped talis certain it was still attached to the aleaned from it, I shifted er to the crowd, facing the audience, head high Allowing the town to view a neoues and the sins of hu softly as I turned, I said to Waldroup, "I was called here today to hear charges against me Read them"
"Put away the weapon," he whispered, his eyes on my hand and the blade "Please"
The hilt, the prime aht, white scars blistering, y found in the tour In the wash of their energies, I was shi intoracious "please" was a start to rational negotiations With a decisive flourish, I sheathedmy skirt bells
Relief flooded Waldroup&039;s face and he banged the gavel "You guards get back over there against the wall You two chaone have no violence here today" When no one ain "You heard me Do what I said, all a you, or stand in conteuns and stepped back one pace Audric and Rupert hesitated a longtheir blades The sound of steel on leather was supple, threatening The guards retreated two htened around us The testosterone was so thick I could taste it on the air
As I repositioned, I caught sight of the TV cae of the platform The news crew had mounted the dais Fury still twisted Elder Culpepper&039;s face A quick look confirression I thought there ht be weapons beneath their jackets I didn&039;t know Culpepper&039;s cronies, but I&039;d re the bench Of the rees, Shamus and one other were for me, it was clear The other two had poker faces and were iain, hoping a return to procedure would restore the peace
Sha in the too-quiet church "It has been brought to the attention of a kirk elder that the licensed ed in debauchery, decadence, and dissipation, leading our town&039;s human males into immoral and iniquitous behavior" The accusation seeht, harsh sound
"Thorn?" Jacey called fro The camera swiveled to focus on my friend as she stood with an expression of disbelief In the sea of black clothing her red dress and emeralds shis at once: that I was one of theed to the town, that the accusation was ludicrous and everyone knew it, that I was a jewelry hed, the sound infectious Several others laughed with her The level of antagonised I could have kissed her
"Sit down When the judges want comments from the croe&039;ll ask for them," Waldroup said Jacey sat, a confident smile on her face I was pretty sure the camera loved it
"When and hich men?" Audric asked "What evidence is to be presented? And when can the defense question the accusers?"
Sha at the ca the bench I was sure he rued letting in the crew for the ot out of hand, the town fathers would have an ie, the visa had suggested to reatest likelihood of success Which meant the visa was an interactive a with pride As it was, I felt its distinct feeling of s I wasn&039;t sure I liked it
"This ain&039;t no big city court like they got in Raleigh or Atlanta or Mobile," Shamus said "Wefor the e control I took a breath, the first full one in minutes, and stopped a suilty, they confess and we punish theoes to the district court in Asheville We ain&039;t had a federal cries and talk it through"
"The licensed neoal court," Audric said "Specific charges? Witnesses?"
"That would becolder as his gaze raked e-shirt He thought he had ed, and he didn&039;t care if the television ca sped up and I worked to appear unmoved, even as I slidstick to make certain my blade was still free Culpepper raised his voice "I heard the confession of a twelve-year-old boy as seduced by her wicked dancing and led into lewd and lascivious behavior"
"Who, where, and when?" Audric asked
"He refused to say when I didn&039;t ask where The accusation is enough for a kirk elder to charge a harlot But letpast me at the crowd, "lest we doubt, the whole to her dance At the last sun-day, the early thaw celebration, she wore pants and boots, dressed like a e danced before us all, a public spectacle She ht Well, sorta Along with half the women present, I had worn jeans and boots to the town&039;s early thaw gathering, where Audric and I had coer The whole town knew that It was fact, and one fact, even an unrelated one, added corroboration to accusations Though there was no law against a woman in pants, and never had been, the observation was calculated to appeal to the orthodox
"Will the accuser co?" Audric asked
"No I will not break the seal of the confessional for a ain It&039;s e youth"
Audric shrugged a huge shoulder, his cloak e be dislance into the crowd and s teeth I really didn&039;t like the look of that srounds?" Waldroup asked
"The cried offense have been offered, no accusers have coossip And gossip is a sin," Audric said, "punishable by branding"
"He has a point," Waldroup said
"As you wish We have other accusers," Culpepper said, satisfied The expression on his face said he wasn&039;t surprised to have his first accusation thrown out He had coal assaults at the ready I figured there was a witch-catcher under his chair too, for use if I was pronounced guilty If hu es But I wasn&039;t unprepared Culpepper didn&039;t see a confrontation Of course, if I fought, caught on camera, public opinion would crucify es Even if I won, I lost Maybe the elder was counting on that
The elder slid a paper to Shamus On it was a list of names I would have bet the store that the accusers were orthodox The orthodox wanted woly as sin They wanted their women quiet and soft-spoken, chaste and dull, and to walk behind their ht colors I was a divorcee And a lared at a bailiff "Get the accused a chair"
The bailiff looked at Culpepper, who inclined his head The exchange was caught by Waldroup, who sat back, the shock on his face quicklyhis attention to the rest of the town fathers, as if contees ere obviously siding with Culpepper There had been a shift in the political clinized he was on the outside
I was offered a chair at the head of the platfor the assembly I stepped over my cloak and approached the seat as if it were a throne offered to a queen Before I sat, Rupert lifted my cloak from the floor and settled it with a flourish on the seat The red silk lining picked up the radiance frolowed like a jewel I let Rupert adjust the cloak for war stick across my lap
I could se-sense, the mind-skim The human smells were sweat and the reek of unwashed bodies, leather, perfume, and moonshine Beneath thee-sight, with the soft glow of life, the auras they carried - all except Audric, whose half-lamour I could pierce it if I wanted, and see him as he really was, but I didn&039;t bother As I watched, twothe total to five
Rupert stood to uards and my chair Audric crossed the roouards didn&039;t like that, but there wasn&039;t much they could do if Waldroup allowed it The tiny baker seemed disposed to allow the accused and her champards a lot of leniency at the moment
Waldroup read the first name and called out, "Will Amos Ramps come forward and take the witness seat?"
An old man in black shambled forward, cliht of the long table occupied by the fathers "Swear him in, Tobitt," Waldroup directed the first bailiff
Whispers swept the gathering and A about no swearing in I was jist s&039;pposed to say o"
"I think we&039;ll do this a bit more formal than usual Swear him," Waldroup said Culpepper&039;s eyes narrowed and he sat back in his chair
A look of alarm crossed Amos&039; face as Tobitt held a black leather-bound Bible to him "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help the Most High and all the seraphs?" the guard asked
Aes and gulped, saying, "I do"
"What do you know regarding the charges brought against the neoed on his collar "I heard - "
"Objection," Audric said
"Sustained," Waldroup said "What do you know? Not guess, or suppose, deduce, or assuhta heard What do you know? And be careful, Ae here, no ht believe If I think you&039;reup, I&039;ll toss you in the pokey so fast your head&039;ll spin off and take flight"
Amos blanched, looked for help at the table, and when none was forthco searched the crowd "Mabel?"
"Your wife can speak on her own if she&039;s got soulped again, looked at the Bible now sitting on the edge of the long table, and dropped his head Since the seraphs came, people who lied on the witness stand had been known to drop dead Not often, but once was too "
"Would the witness please speak up?" Audric asked
A"
"Fine" Shaot anything to say? If so, get on up here, swear the words, and say it"